Kim Kang-il, North Korea’s vice-defence minister, accused Washington of running a “reckless military bluff” and stoking tension by sending a nuclear-powered submarine recently to South Korea and again flying a B-1B bomber for the planned parade.

South Korean media have reported a B-1B will join the parade set for Tuesday afternoon, flying over Seoul alongside allied fighter jets and other aircraft.

South Korea’s military and US Forces Korea have not confirmed the bomber’s participation, but Seoul’s defence ministry said the parade was partly intended to show off its military might as a deterrent to the North.

Kim said the US’s show of force highlighted its strategic disadvantage on the Korean peninsula over North Korea, as well as South Korea’s “chronic nuclear phobia”. He called for fresh measures in response.

“We can examine such fresh action plans any time and carry them out,” he said, vowing to continue improving the country’s “powerful war deterrent,” according to KCNA.

Last week, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, criticised the presence of a US nuclear submarine in South Korea, which docked at the port city of Busan to get supplies and allow crew members to rest.